In Part one of my GoPro Hero6 Black review, I had a look at the camera’s various shooting modes. This was good preparation for my five-day mountain bike trip to Costa Blanca, Spain. Read on for some real world tests of the new GoPro Hero6.
In Part one of my GoPro Hero6 Black review I identified the following modes as having the best image quality, and were the ones I predominantly used on the bike trip:
4K 4:3 24p and 4K 60p
2.7K 120p
1080 240p
None of these provide internal image stabilization, which was fine for me as I also took the GoPro Karma Grip (reviewed here). The Karma Grip provides fantastic stabilization and also powers the Hero 6, so no spare batteries were needed.
Sidenote: Initially, the Karma grip did not recognize the Hero6, and even after updating to the latest firmware (v1.51), it wouldn’t always recognize the camera. This is very annoying, as the camera freezes showing a „USB connection“ message, requiring you to pull the battery from both the grip and the camera. Not nice out in the field!
The same happened with the older Hero5 model. I find it quite annoying that even the latest Karma Grip firmware from August 2017 does not eliminate thise issue, as it sometimes it feels you’re being treated like the Beta tester of a product that was actually released over a year ago!
As the GoPro Hero6 housing is the same as the Hero5, I was able to use the PolarPro ND filters (mostly an ND32, reviewed here) which provide a nice motion blur for the lower frame rates, like the 4K 4:3 24p mode.
This mode is very useful in conjunction with a GoPro chest mount, as it gives a nice point of view of the trail including the handle bars in the foreground. The 2.7K 120p and 1080 240p modes were used for the slow motion sequences. Other gear used was a Sony a7S II and a DJI Mavic Pro drone.
GoPro Hero6 Black Review Findings
Having used the Hero6 for almost a month now, and after reviewing all my footage, it is clear that this camera is a massive step up from the Hero5. Image quality, colors out of the box (use the „flat colors“ settings, as „GoPro“ is heavily saturated), resolution, framerate capabilities and the new HEVC (H265) codec are all really amazing. Also, although manual controls are available, auto exposure and white balance work very well – a very important feature for an action cam!
Another big plus is that the dynamic range has been improved over the previous version. The GoPro Hero6 just holds the highlights much better while retaining the shadows, which I confirmed by doing a little side by side test of the same scene with both cams. Where the Hero5 would start to blow out the sky, the Hero6 still managed to show a blue sky.
GoPro Hero6 Black Review – Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Image quality, out-of-the-box colors and dynamic range
All the new 4K modes, plus the 2.7K 120p and 1080 240p modes
The HEVC codec really holds up
Cons:
The fisheye look
No medium and narrow settings any longer (GoPro please bring them back for the 2.7k 120p and 1080 240p slow-motion modes)
Not all available modes use the new HEVC codec (e.g. the 4K 24p mode does not)
Audio quality (a general issue with all action cams)
All the Karma Grip issues. The stabilization it provides is fantastic, but all the glitches around it should be resolved!
If GoPro would offer options like an external microphone (usable with the Karma Grip), or a rectilinear wide angle lens (or a selection of exchangable lenses?) they could significantly up their game into pro territory. As for now, yes, they made it to the top – but the competition is tough and will soon catch up.
I hope you found this GoPro Hero6 Black review of some use. If you want to see more of my films, head over to my Vimeo channel.

GoPro reports its first quarterly profit in two years, after a period of aggressive cost cuts without reduction of innovative efforts.
It seems that GoPro is a profitable company once again, after having suffered financial losses in the last seven straight quarters, critical malfunctions in products (Karma Drone Recall) and heavy competition in the drone and wearable camera sector.
As stated in the press release by CEO Nicholas Woodman: “GoPro has turned a corner, restoring growth and profitability of our business… We dramatically reduced operating costs without impacting our product roadmap”.
“We launched our premium-priced HERO6 Black with global on-shelf availability and strong critical acclaim. We are now focused on driving consumer demand to reach our goal of full-year double-digit revenue growth”, said Woodman.
The company, which was a hot share in the stock market, has had to resort to a series of mass layoffs in the past, while developing new products like a $1,000 consumer drone, the GoPro HERO6 camera and its first spherical camera, Fusion, which will be available to consumers at the beginning of November.
During the Earnings Call, Woodman said that the current entry-level GoPro Session would be replaced with a new entry-level model next year (2018).
“Demand for GoPro’s entry level Session was much higher than anticipated… This new camera will be one of several new products planned for GoPro”, Woodman stated.
According to GoPro: “It’s impossible to not be excited about the future”
Take a look at the Fusion camera explained by CEO Nicholas Woodman.
It seems that the company is definitely trying hard to get back on the horse, and indeed with products like Fusion – GoPro’s entry to the world of spherical capture at the consumer level – there is a good chance to rise again.
What do you think? Could GoPro get the stock market darling title again?

Having used the GoPro Hero 2, 3, 4 and – since a year – the Hero 5, I was quite excited to hear that the new GoPro Hero 6 was out. Fortunately for me, a unit arrived at cinema5D HQ for review. The first thing that I always do is have a look at the different resolutions and frame rates. Here is part I of my review of the GoPro Hero 6.
GoPro Hero 6 – Field of View
When I first analysed the Hero 4 and 5 a while back, I found that the chosen FOV made a big difference in each of the cameras, i.e. the quality of the 2.7K mode on the Hero 5 was best at the “medium” setting, whereas the 1080p 120fps setting was best left at “narrow”, as other FOV settings resulted in footage that was either either murky or presented heavy aliasing. Additionally, a high resolution combined with high frame rates would kill the encoder, causing artefacts to show up due to the limited data rate.
The first big surprise with the GoPro Hero 6: gone are the “medium” and “narrow” FOV settings! I was quite sceptical when I noticed this, as I wondered if the scaling in combination with the different resolution and frame-rate settings would work as it should. Also, I quite liked using the “medium” settings, as the fisheye look was less pronounced while still remaining wide enough at around 24mm full-frame equivalent.
With the GoPro Hero 6 you are stuck with the fisheye look as there is only wide and superview FOV, plus the linear mode which for some reason doesn’t seem to look as good as the equivalent on the older Hero 5 – something I have to confirm at a later stage.
Conclusion #1: if you don’t want to comprise picture quality by using the “linear” FOV, my #1 item on the wishlist is a rectilinear wide angle lens!
Resolutions and Frame Rates
I put up the Hero 6 on a tripod and did static shots in the different settings. Then, I extracted 16:9 frames from each mode and compared them side by side. Note: depending on your monitor’s resolution settings, you might see artefacts that are not present in the Raw images at native resolutions – hence, you have to trust my findings ;-)
Here are two shots at 4K (protune, flat colors and sharpness set to “low”, image stabilization not available in these modes). The first one is 60fps (wide) and the second one is a 16:9 extract from the 4K 4:3 24fps mode. This mode is very interesting as it uses the full 4:3 sensor of 4000×3000 pixels, of which the 4K is really a UHD window of 3840×2160. This gives you some freedom to later reframe to a 16:9 window of your choosing. Logically, the 4:3 mode offers a field of view that is also a tad wider than in the 4K wide setting (4000/3840 = 4%).
The 4:3 mode could also be interesting if a third-party 1.33x anamorphic lens replacement for the GoPro Hero 6 becomes available in the future.
Conclusion #2: both the 4K 4:3 24fps (up to 30fps) as well as the 4K 60fps modes are super detailed, with the HEVC (h.265) codec doing a fantastic job to encode the image at 75Mbit/s. I tested the 4K 60fps mode on my bike at high speeds – as can be seen at the beginning of the video – and as you can see there is no break-up, and it really works great. An encoder has finally become available that is capable of encoding the full 12MP sensor of the Hero 6!
Figure 1: 4K wide 60fps – nice and detailed
Figure 2: 4K 4:3 24fps center 16:9 extract – nice and detailed. Note the 4% wider field of view
Now, let’s compare all the other modes side by side (100%), without image stabilization to make sure we get the best image quality (protune, flat colors and sharpness set to “low”):
Figure 3: a selection of modes side by side, 100%. Note the heavy aliasing on the 1080 240fps mode
Figure 4: crop of fig. 3 – note how the details in the grass are gone with a resolution of 2.7k and lower
Above you can see a selection of side-by-side comparisons of different modes at 100%, as well as a crop (you can download the full-resolution versions of these images HERE). It is worth noting how the image becomes mushy at all resolutions lower than 4K. If you look at the grass, or some details of the bush at the lower left hand side of the grey terrace, all details are gone in 2.7K mode and lower. The “linear” mode is not shown in the comparison above, as it is even less detailed. The superview mode looks like a wrong aspect ratio TV, and hence is not shown either.
Figure 5: 1080 240fps mode cropped – heavy aliasing on hard, contrasty edges
Nevertheless, at least no aliasing artefacts are present in any of the modes, with one exception: the 1080p 240fps mode shows heavy aliasing and stair-stepping on hard, contrasty edges. Also, not all modes use the HEVC encoder – when you select the mode on the GoPro, it is indicated if it uses the HEVC encoder or not. The modes that use the HEVC are: 4K 4:3 up to 30fps, 4K 60fps, 2.7K 4:3 up to 60fps, 2.7K 120fps and 1080 240fps.
Conclusion #3: basically, any of the modes that don’t use the HEVC encoder are rather disappointing.
Conclusion #4: as there are no “medium” and “narrow” settings available, it does not make any sense to use anything else than the 4K 60fps mode or, if a lower frame rate is needed, the 4K 4:3 24fps mode. Those two are super detailed, and the encoder holds up.
Conclusion #5: 1080p 240fps mode is unfortunately barely usable… if you do not have any hard, contrasty edges in your scene you can get away with it, as foliage and landscape are not so taxing. I must say, it looks like upscaled 720p, although GoPro marketing sells it as 1080. If 120fps is enough for you, then I would suggest the 2.7K 120fps mode – it looks clean and is quite detailed.
I would have hoped for a 1080 240fps “narrow” mode. This would use only the centre portion of the sensor and would mean no scaling. I am quite sure it could be aliasing free and good (as the 1080 120fps “narrow” mode was with the Hero 5).
This gives you quite an interesting choice, where using the best quality modes with the GoPro Hero 6 has become quite simple:
4K at 60fps or 4:3 at 24fps (up to 30)
for slow motion, use 2.7K 120fps
if you do not have any hard, contrasty edges in your frame, then you can go to 1080 240fps mode.
Of course, you are still stuck with the fisheye look in all of these modes, any lens correction you apply in post will result in a loss of image quality. All these modes do however use the HEVC encoder, which has a data rate of about 75Mb/s which works just fine.
In my next post I will have a look at the dynamic range of the GoPro Hero 6 – which the manufacturer claims to have improved – as wel as the image stabilization. I will also go to Spain for 4 days of mountain biking to carry out my real-world test!
What do you think of the GoPro Hero 6 so far? Let us know in the comments below!

Putting to an end many ongoing rumours, the GoPro HERO6 Black has been just announced, bringing new and exciting capabilities to outdoor and action content creators. The new HERO6 Black can do 4K60p, 2.7K 120 fps and 240 fps in full HD, which ensures that slow motion action cam shots will be everywhere soon.
GoPro HERO6 Black
According to GoPro, the new custom GP1 processor was designed to enable twice the video frame rates and bring improved image quality, greater dynamic range, better low-light performance and on top, dramatically improved video stabilization.
The GP1 processor also enables the HERO6 Black to analyze visual scenes and sensor data for improved automated QuikStories. For those who are not familiar with GoPro’s App, QuikStories was created in order to easily bridge between your HERO shooting device and the ability to automatically create stories, upload them and then share them with your audience. The app is now improved and, according to GoPro, the HERO6 Black has been optimized to work with QuikStories with 3x faster WiFi. This means that footage will rapidly be transferred from the new camera to your phone, where the GoPro App will automatically create QuikStory videos for you.
Here is what we know about the new GoPro HERO6 Black:
Powered by GoPro’s Custom-Designed GP1 Processor
New 4K60, 2.7K120 and 1080p240 recording formats
HEVC (H265) encoding on selected recording formats (see the below list)
Maximum Video Bit Rate when using an H265 recording format: 78Mb/s (Protune mode)
Maximum Video Bit Rate when using an H264 recording format: 60Mb/s
The new GP1 processor is doing its’ internal calculations in 12 bit but the video output is 8 bit
QuikStories Enabled, GoPro App Compatible
Most Advanced Stabilization of any HERO camera (can not be activated in 4K/60, 2.7K/120 and 1080/240)
All-New Touch Zoom
3x Faster Offload Speeds via 5GHz Wi-Fi
Waterproof to 33 Feet (10m)
Compatible with Karma and existing GoPro Mounts
Improved Dynamic Range and Low-Light Performance
RAW and HDR Photo Modes
Voice Control in 10 Languages
GPS, Accelerometer and Gyroscope
WiFi + Bluetooth
HEVC is slowly but surly being deployed by a greater number of camera manufacturers. GoPro is one of them. To learn more about this new codec, please head to GoPro’s site by clicking here
HERO6 Black recommended video and Field Of View settings as suggested by GoPro:
GoPro has also taken the opportunity to announce several improvements to the Karma drone. The improvements are HERO6 Black-compatible and include:
Two new auto-shot paths: “Follow” and “Watch”
Follow: Using GPS, Karma can now automatically follow the Karma Controller while you’re on the go, keeping you framed in the shot.
Watch: Automatically keeps the Karma Controller in frame while hovering in place
Cable Cam: Set up to 10 waypoints for more complex shots
Look Up Tilt: Allows camera to tilt upwards to look above the horizon
Current Karma owners may unlock new features via firmware update, available today.
GoPro FUSION
FUSION, GoPro’s first consumer-related 360° camera was already announced in April, but now GoPro is revealing and sharing more details in regards to its technical capabilities:
5.2K30 and 3K60 Spherical Video
18MP Spherical Photo
GoPro App Compatible
OverCapture Allows for traditional video creation from 360° footage
Advanced stabilization
360° audio
Waterproof to 16ft (5m)
Time Lapse Video + Photo, Night Lapse and Burst Modes
Works with most GoPro Mounts
Includes Fusion Grip Mount
Voice Control in 10 languages
GPS, Accelerometer, Gyroscope and Compass
WiFi + Bluetooth
GoPro’s “Overcapture” software will enable you to watch and edit the 360° video, and you will be able to reframe 360° shots into normal 16:9 shots of your choosing. We’ve heard about GoPro planning this functionality before but now it’s confirmed – in the meantime, competitors like Insta360 already incorporated that exact feature into an already shipping product and software: the Insta360 ONE.
Additional New Products Announced:
Shorty: The ultimate pocket-able extension pole and tripod, perfect for any activity.
The Handler: An updated floating handgrip with a quick-release mounting feature.
Bite Mount + Floaty: A versatile bite mount with an easy-to-spot float, ideal for POV.
Pricing and availability:
The GoPro HERO6 Black is available now for $499, and the GoPro FUSION is also available now for $699.
Does this new announcement interest you? Will you be considering to buy the new HERO6 Black camera to deploy in your productions? Please share with us your thoughts in the comment section below.
Full disclosure: Johnnie, together with other media representatives was a guest at GoPro’s HERO6 Black launch event in Munich, Germany. GoPro paid transport and accommodation for that two-day roundtrip. There was no other payment involved whatsoever.